Using the Marketing’s 7P’s to successfully recruit the Generation Y for

Hospitality and Tourism Industry

Aurelian SOFICĂ

Affiliation:
Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Business,
Hospitality Services Department

Generation Y is the new challenge for the organizational environment because their profile match no
other in terms of organizational culture. They have high expectations in terms of social responsibilities
form the employers, they need the mobility the smartphone era allows them, they are highly educated
“buyers” and they want to make a difference. In order to mirror their profile and tap in to their frequency
for recruiting purposes the old rules have to be rewrite using the language of marketing strategy and the
7P’s. The job is not a job anymore, a career is not a career anymore, but is a product with updated
characteristics that must be marketed accordingly. Now if we zoom in for the hospitality industry the
challenge is even higher because this professional area is not the most attractive one for young generation
and because of that it needs major occupational rebranding and investment in job marketing.

Key words: hospitality and tourism industry, human resource recruiting, marketing, demography,
Generation Y
JEL classification: M31, M37, M50, M51

Introduction
Imagine selling a mediocre product to an educated buyer… or recruiting for a job
(career, opportunity, occupation) in the tourism industry from a special recruiting source,
graduated students - the proud exponent of Generation Y. It is pretty much the same challenge.
This cohort of people, ready to represent in few years the bulk of the labour market
have quite strange expectations that are not on a collision course with what the hospitality and
tourism industry has to offer. They are incongruent with conventional thinking on how new
entrants to the labour force should think and act (Solnet and Hood, 2008).
So from a marketing perspective, the most fundamental requirement is to identify
customers (Generation Y), research their needs and preferences (in terms of career
expectations), analyse their attitudes to promotion (recruiting) and other factors that influence
their purchasing decision and persuade them to buy products and services (apply for a job in
hospitality industry). Companies should look at the social, political, economic, cultural and
technological trends that are shaping the markets and try to position themselves accordingly
(Charted Institute of Marketing, 2009). This kind of marketing audit can be translated in HR as
a recruiting audit, a vital practice, because without zooming in on the demographic traits of this
generation, the chance to recruit Generation Y, “the most technically literate, educated, and
ethnically diverse generation in the history” (Eisner, 2005, p.5) drops abruptly.

Material and method

The article is a theoretical one and connects three areas of interest for hospitality
industry: a) HR and recruiting, b) marketing and 7Ps or the marketing mix and c) sociology and
Generation Y. The objective is to interpret and model in a constructive manner a theoretical
framework for future research and practice in this area and open the way in solving a specific
problem on the labour market: recruiting highly skilled young professionals for the hospitality
and tourism industry.
The paradigm regarding recruiting, especially in the area of hospitality and tourism
industry needs a change and the principles of marketing offer a promising solution. Because of
the scale of the human resources needed the majority of businesses in this industry externalized
the recruiting activities and abandoned the ownership of the process. The control over the

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employer branding decreased, the contact with the labour market is mediated. The jobs were not
seen as a “product or services” that needed to be marketed at the same level as the real products
and services of the company. It is time to integrate the human capital discourse in to the
HR/marketing practices of hospitality and tourism industry and sell the careers or
collaborations, not just inform young generations about them.
The discussions will be built around three main questions suggested in the introduction:
● Why a job in tourism and hospitality industry is a mediocre “product”? ● What does the
Generation Y expects from the working environment? ● How can we use the marketing
principles in order to attract more qualified young people… in an ethical manner?
The results or output of the paper is the alignment and synchronization of the Marketing
principles (product, price, place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence) with the
HR recruiting practices in the hope to mediate the professional relation between Generation Y
or the millennials and the hospitality and tourism industry (Figure 1)

HR Recruiting

Hospitality Synchronize Generation

& tourism recruiting & marketing Y
industry

Marketing 7Ps

Figure1.
Synchronizing HR recruitment with Marketing 7Ps to attract Generation Y
or the millennials in the tourism and hospitality industry

Results and discussions

Why a job in tourism and hospitality industry is a mediocre “product”? In a realistic

job preview, hospitality is describe as an “…industry that is so people-intensive, lacking in
career path options and beset by high employee turnover. A fundamental paradox of the
industry is that the people directly interacting with customers on a regular basis are the ones
being paid the least. Hospitality enterprises have traditionally relied on large pools of young
labour to fill their frontline staffing requirements.” (Solnet and Hood, 2008, p.60). On top of
that, more that 70% of the jobs are unskilled jobs (Solnet and Hood, 2011).
The above authors are not alone in their opinions. Making a short review of the “the
dark side” details about this industry is worth mentioning the following characteristics of the
industry: long and antisocial hours; low levels of pay; low status; high turnover emotional
labour; lack of training; autocratic leadership styles; dysfunctional customer behaviour; low
level of skills. (Wood, 1997; Karatepe & Sokmen, 2006, Maxwell, Ogden, and Broadbridge,
2010).
Fewer and fewer young graduates consider a long term career in tourism and hospitality
industry. Some studies suggest that half of the students undertook this career course based on
inadequate information and once they experienced the conditions and their expectations were
unmet, their unfavourable perception cemented. As a result many tourism graduates do not join

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the industry after graduation or leave after three months of trying. (Kusluvan and Kusluvan,
2000). “Recruitment and retention engagement in itself presents a particular challenge…” and “
hospitality and tourism industry as a hole is not renewed for highly developed human resources
practices” (Maxwell, Ogden and Broadbridge, 2014, p. 55).

Now, what does the generation Y expects from the working environment? Let’s consider
a generation Y as a cohort of people (born between 1979 and 1994) that share similar social or
historical experiences, which affect the way members view and interpret the world, and these
interpretations have a relatively stable effect on their lives (Solnet and Hood, 2008). So let’s list
the general traits of generation Y: money have never been a concern because they were raise in
a time of economic expansion and prosperity; they are comfortable with uncertainty; they are
used with various political and socio-economical events; they have a sense of morality and they
are willing to fight for their freedom; they have a high level of education and technical skills;
they are connected 24 hours and they prefer interactive information; they are socially
responsible and want to bring their contribution to the society; they are multitasking; they are
family centric - they value parenting and enjoy a full and balanced life they are a global
generation with multicultural skills; they are volunteer; they value inclusive management style;
they want to be rewarded for the process more than for their output; they are more demanding
with their employers; they are not afraid to express their opinions; they expect respect and
responsibility from early career; they are self-reliant, independent; they are looking for instant
rewards; their long term plan means 12 months; they are not willing to put years in to service in
order to gain significant rewards from the employers; they ask for constant feedback even on a
daily basis; they dislike menial and repetitive work and seek new challenges regularly; they
want to be passionate about their work; they need to be treated as individuals not as a group
(Hill, 2002; Eisner, 2005; Maxwell, Ogden, and Broadbridge, 2010; Solnet and Hood, 2011).

How can we use the marketing principles in order to attract more qualified exponents of
Generation Y… in an ethical manner? The first problem to be addressed is the fact that jobs in
the hospitality industry are not marketed as they should be. Often the responsibility for the
recruiting process is externalized to a third party (online recruiting firms); the organizational
culture and identity (for the majority of small and medium businesses in the hospitality and
tourism industry) is not developed enough in order to attract candidates on a specific
professional frequency; the labour market (in developing countries like Romania) is drained by
“extensive fishing” organized by recruiters offering jobs abroad (Sofica and Toader, 2012, PwC,
2012) and finally the lack of technology literacy undermine the communication process in an
ever more connected world.
On the marketing side it seems that the 7Ps or the marketing mix (product, price, place,
promotion, people, process, physical evidence) represent a good framework to use in order to
improve the recruiting practices used in the hospitality industry. This transfer of knowledge can
offer a fresh perspective and a useful instrument to change the reality. First, the product you
want to sell from the marketing framework can easily be seen in the recruiting process as the
job. Second, the price can be seen as the skills & competencies the candidate is willing to “pay”
for the job. Third, the place can be associated with the logistics of HR recruiting and the
concept of just in time delivery (the location of the recruiting sources; the timing between the
offer and the need and the quantity of jobs compared to the market needs). Fourth, the
promotion can be represented in HR recruiting as: employee/employer branding; recruiting
sources identification; recruiting techniques design; message design. Fifth, the people involved
in the marketing process are actually the recruiters or the scouts but also everyone involved in
the interaction with a potential candidate. Sixth, the process represents the logical sequence of
steps that attracts the candidate on the orbit of the company and the process must be efficient
and effortless for the candidate. Seventh, the physical evidence means to experience the product
before buying it – in HR recruiting this means to provide access to your employees with the
help of testimonials written or video or to provide access to the insider’s reality through
unconventional recruiting techniques (internship, open days, conferences… offering them a
chance of sampling the organizational behaviour).

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 Combining or overlapping two layers of organizational practices (Marketing 7Ps and
HR recruiting) will allow practitioners to change the inertia of the industry; to upgrade it to the
current realities of the labour market. The transfer of knowledge from marketing to HR
recruiting will be formulated as a series of lessons or hypothesis worthy of further studies.
Table 1.
Aligning HR recruitment with Marketing 7Ps
Marketing 7Ps
1. Product must be developed to the right level of
quality to meet the current needs of the client.
Provide value for the customer because the
value in the eye of the beholder.
Identify the advantages over the competitors’ products,
the unique selling point. Position the product.
Beware going too far with product quality
The key words: quality, image, branding, features,
variants, mix, support, customer service, warranties,
and availability.
2. Price. A product worth only what the customer is
ready to pay for it.
The price needs to be competitive but not
necessarily the cheapest. Price allows you to position
yourself in relation to the competition.
Extra services or behaviour offers extra
value for money.
Existing customers are less sensitive
about the price.
Key words: positioning, list, discount, credit, payment
method, free or value added elements.
3. The place is the space where the customer buys. As
a mean of distribution the place must be appropriate
and convenient for the customer.
The product must be available at the right place, at the
right time, in the right quantity while keeping storage
and distribution costs to acceptable levels.
Delivery performance is one of the most important
criteria in choosing a supplier. Place means also
displaying your product.
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HR recruiting lessons
1. The job (or the product) offered should be tailored
to meet the current needs of the clients (Generation Y).
On the current market, a job in the hospitality and
tourism industry it is considered a mediocre “product”.
Increase the level of information, or the technical
details of the job (job description, website testimonials,
events, etc.) in order to offer a realistic preview.
Identify the motivators (balanced life, challenging
work, responsibility, etc.) and use them to design a job
for motivation. Also be prepared to update and upgrade
these motivators according to the personal
development.
In order to position the product a recruiting market
audit is needed. Identify the unique selling point of the
company when compared to the competition in order to
differentiate in a huge market.
2. Evaluate in depth (job analysis process) the level of
experience, knowledge, attitudes, skills and
competencies a candidate is ready to offer or to “pay”
for that job (the price).
Solve the paradox of having “rich” and educated
buyers on one side, and a cheap and simple product on
the other side. Price positioning dilemma is bigger than
in other cases.
Loyalty should be gained fast because they will not
“pay/invest” more than a year until they start to profit
or to enjoy the experience. The high turnover rate of
the industry is well known fact.
3. The logistics of HR recruiting (or the place) should
be very well planned (location, timing and quantity) in
order to reduce the costs and have a delivery
performance.
Location. Identify where your clients are (universities,
online, public events, social groups, etc.). Identify
multiple locations for Generation Y.
Timing. React in a certain time span to the window of
opportunity; react when Generation Y is interested.
Key words: trade channels, sales support, channel
number, segmented channels
Promotion. The way the company communicates what
is has to offer.
Promotion is not one way… is both ways is
communicating.
Promotion should communicate the benefits and not
just the features of the product (sell don’t tell. It must
grab the attention.
Identify the most successful idea, technique in the
promotion?
After sales support is very important… more important
than the price for some clients.
Key words: marketing communications, personal
promotions, sales promotions, PR, corporate identity,
branding, direct marketing, exhibitions, special offers.
People. Anyone coming in to contact with the
customer makes an impression with profound negative
or positive impact.
Many customers cannot separate the product from the
salesperson.
Train and motivate the people in order for them to
project what you want them to project.
Key words: individuals on marketing activities,
individuals on customer contact, culture or image,
training and skills, remuneration.
Process. The details of the process are not important
for the exterior, but to have a working system that
reduce the customers effort.
Short waiting time, and specific information’s provided
keeps the customer happy.
It is important not to keep interested customers on hold
in any kind of interaction because their social networks
can be informed.
Key words: customer focus, business led, offer
support, design features, research and development
Physical evidence. A service cannot be experienced
before buying it. It is risky for the buyer because of the
intangible character.
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Quantity. Maintain the number of jobs at the level of
the market. Understand the labour market dynamics.
4. Proactive recruiting strategy (promotion) is
needed in the hospitality industry. Go where the
potential employees are, motivate them to move them
towards the hospitality and tourism industry. Don’t
wait for them to come to you.
Use professional / employee / employer branding as an
ongoing “tool” meant to attract and repel at the same
time candidates that are not on the right organizational
frequency.
Construct a detailed profile of your recruiting sources.
Match recruiting sources with the recruiting methods.
Develop the right set of attention grabbing messages.
Test and refine the process of recruiting over and over.
Do not over sale, because in the aftersales part
(integration and career development) companies should
live up to the expectations projected during promotion.
Otherwise the turnover rate will unbalance the
recruiting efforts.
5. The recruiters and the scouts (people) must reflect
the values of the company and the match candidate
profile they are looking for. During the recruiting
process the candidates will associate the recruiter
(education, personality, etc.) with the company.
Try not to sell through intermediaries. For credibility
purposes the ownership of these activities should be
kept.
Use your employees (the entire organization) as a
recruiting force. Train and reward them for their
success. This approach multiplies the effort.
6. Finely tune the process of recruiting to be logical,
simple and reduce the recruiting time. If the resources
(time, money, image) of the recruited persons are not
wasted and the effort is minimum they will be happy.
Develop a 24/7 online presence or open a recruiting
hotline. Build on technology. Have a contact person, a
recruiter trained to instantly explain the process and
offer advice. This will reduce the span of some
inherent confusions or misunderstanding.
Be extra careful with those recruited but not selected.
Out of 100 candidates maybe just 2 get a job, the rest
of them will fail. The way the recruiter deals with those
failing is important because actually he is dealing also
with their social network. Recruiting and PR goes hand
in hand.
7. Use testimonials (written - brochures or video -
online) from current employees or even ex-employees
to increase the level of credibility. Testimonials offer a

Facilities, cars and behaviour must be an evidence for
the quality of your services. The customer can talk
with another customer who experienced the service or
watch testimonials.
Key words: staff experience on brand, product
packaging, and online experience.
realistic job preview.
Another level of physical evidence is given by
internship, open days, conferences, etc. These events
(or recruiting methods) allow potential candidates to
sample the reality of the workplace, to talk with one of
the employees directly.

Conclusions

So let’s review the main lessons learned by the HR recruiting field from the Marketing
7Ps.
The jobs have no longer an intrinsic value because. They have to be designed,
developed, sale, updated, offer guaranties, just like in the case of a real product. Generation Y
have to really buy a career or a collaboration in the hospitality industry, not because they are
financially desperate, not because they want to develop some experience and then leave the
industry, but because the professional branding match their professional identity and
professional biorhythm.
The hospitality industry seems to have problems in evaluating the “price” (experience,
knowledge, attitudes, skills, competencies etc.) Generation Y is willing to pay for the product or
the job offered.
There is a certain logistics of the HR recruiting that consists in: a) identifying the areal
(virtual or real) of Generation Y in order to b) intercept them in the right spot, at the right time
(the moment when their interest might intersect with the hospitality industry is just a brief
window) and c) manage efficiently the quantity jobs or collaborations offered.
Classical recruiting methods don’t work anymore so recruiting strategy should be
proactive. Employers should go in front of Generation Y and deliver the messages, actively
hunt them, not post job offering through intermediaries and wait passively for everybody to
come. Creative recruiting goes well with smart and educated people.
The people that sell the jobs should really represent the companies owning the product.
They should be the proud scouts of people that are on the same frequency with them and the
company. They have to leave what they are preaching or selling.
The process of recruiting should be tuned to be sustainable (“green”), use minimum
resources from the employer and employees (social responsibility) and invest in IT technology
to match the appetite for technology of the millennials.
Finally credibility should be gain trough physical evidence. First level of physical
evidence is represented by realistic job descriptions and advertising. The second level is
represented by testimonials and the third level is represented by events designed especially for
Generation Y. The physical evidence is one of the main sales pitches and should receive more
attention.
The change of paradigm only at the level of recruiting obviously will not solve the
problem of this industry but certainly is a first step. It is not about selling the jobs regardless of
the ethical component. Is about recruiting in a creative manner using the marketing principles,
being sure that you offer a realistic job preview (direct or online), being dead honest with the
Generation Y and project the “dark side” or at least the “grey side” of working in the hospitality
industry previous of signing the contract.
The next steps planned for this theoretical paper are: designing an instrument in order to
evaluate the degree in which the recruiting campaigns draw on marketing principles; collect
data from three countries in the EU and then evaluate the impact of the classical recruiting and
the impact of recruiting with the help of 7Ps.
Ending in a positive manner, aligning the job or collaboration “contract” offered by the
hospitality and tourism industry with the marketing principles and the expectations of

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Generation Y, will create in time a synergy effect, generating a real absorption of highly
qualified human resources.

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